CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
By Noelle Swan
VENICE---
Damien Hirst’s first major exhibition in 10 years begins not in the gallery but on the page, with the tale of a shipwreck supposedly discovered off the coast of East Africa. The ship’s contents are said to be the treasures of Cif Amotan II, a freed slave from Antioch, who spent his final days collecting artifacts of distant cultures. A number of the sculptures are exhibited prior to undergoing restoration, heavily encrusted in corals and other marine life, at times rendering their forms virtually unrecognizable,” the exhibition guidebook explains. This show has also sparked controversy, with some raising concerns of cultural and artistic appropriation. But for many Hirst fans, the borrowing and melding of cultures – and the debate that it invites – is simply part of the show. [
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